'It was a very trying and hard experience'

ZAMBOANGA CITY , Philippines  – Freed kidnapping victim Charlie Rieth described his ordeal of more than two months as a “very trying and hard experience.”

Coming from a brief medical check-up and closed-door briefing, Rieth faced reporters with an intravenous tube in the right hand and said the people who cared for him during his captivity inspired him to live despite his age and various illnesses. 

“It’s an inspiration to know so many people care when you are in trouble,” he told newsmen.

Rieth was seized from his private beach resort in Barangay Patolon, 31 kilometers west of this city, last April 4 while celebrating the Easter holiday with a German friend.

“It was a very trying and hard experience to go through something like that, especially in your life when you are supposed to be in sedentary state. You know I’m a senior citizen and for somebody my age to go through the ordeal of ducking through houses of different sizes, walking and waiting for news from the outside world is a very trying and really telling experience,” recounted the 71-year-old businessman.

According to Rieth, he encountered his most difficult moments when his captors had to move him from one place to another in the mountains to avoid being tracked down by the authorities. 

He, however, said the harrowing experience made him even better and stronger. “(It) gives you an insight on what makes you want to stay alive,” he said.

He said he managed to survive on a day-to-day basis by thinking only of positive things.

Rieth also recounted the times when his kidnappers threatened to kill him, just like in the first days of his captivity when his young captors taunted that they would slit his neck. 

He said the threats and disrespect against his person only stopped when he complained to the group’s leader, a certain Abu Jahid. 

Rieth said he doesn’t know who his captors were, except for the nicknames he gave to each of them. He named one as “Smoking Joe” for being a heavy smoker, and another as “Mighty” for carrying him at times when he could not walk anymore due to his ailments.

Rieth, who has grown a beard and mustache, described his rescue as fast. “It was really a lightning operation and it was still dark,” he said. 

“When I was already in the custody of the Navy and police I was very delighted when they told me I’m in safe hands,” he said.